Speed Reading: Resource for Beleaguered Students or Marketing Hype?

Description: It is heading towards another exam time (of course it is!) and you are swamped with reading – maybe if you took a speed reading course your life would become manageable! Well, as we say in Psychology, how about looking to see if there is any data on the efficacy of that sort of decision?

Source: Speed Reading Promises are Too Good to be True, Scientists Find

There are many bold claims made about the positive outcomes that are available to those who take speed reading courses. It is important to note that those claims are typically made by individuals or companies who are marketing their particular speed reading systems. When you see positive claims being offered it is worth digging in to see if there has been any objective research done on the topic or technique. Better still, look for a meta-analysis or a review article that collects together a large number of studies on the topic of interest and looks to see what sorts of claims can or cannot be made based on the weight of the overall evidence. In the case of speed reading the results of this sort of general review of research conducted by the authors of the paper referred to in this article suggests that you should save your money and make sure you have set aside enough time to do your required reading at your current pace. Take a couple of minutes (time well spent!) and read the article linked above to see what claims about speed reading make sense and which ones are just marketing hype and then get back to your required course reading!

Questions for Discussion:

Does speed reading training help one to read faster?

Some people seem to be able to read certain things very quickly. What sort of people and what sort of things does this work for and with?

What do you do to ensure you get through your required readings over the term?